You just got off the phone with a recruiter who gave you the wink and the gun that your candidate profile seemed exceptional, and you have gaged that your phone interview went smoothly overall. Terrific! As a result, you are sitting back and relaxing assuming you have now completed your part in expressing your interest in the job that you truly want. After all, it is the recruiter’s onus to reach out to you with a status update right? As a recruiter and based on my research however, I can confess that you are not quite correct as you have yet to complete your share in fully expressing your interest in the job and the organization. It is evident that in this hypercompetitive market, one must walk the extra mile to stand out amongst the rest of the handful of applicants. Here are some simple yet impactful activities that are pending completion on your part:

A thank-you note goes a long way:As simple of a tip that this may be, it is one that is usually overlooked. E-mailing a thank-you note would separate you from the rest as it affirms to the recruiter that you are devoting extra effort in reinstating your interest. A general rule of thumb consists of sending a thank-you note within twenty four hours of the interview; remember, you are in a battle against your competition after all!The mere art of following up:Let the waiting game begin! There is a fine line between simply following up on your application status and coming across as desperate and perhaps even accusatory. The recruiter had informed you that it would take up to one week for them to present an outcome to you. It has been three days since your interview took place and you had sent that killer thank-you note within twenty four hours of your interview. Are you therefore supposed to e-mail the recruiter to follow up now? Here is where your attention to detail skills will kick in and are being tested from the recruiter’s end believe it or not! You will not e-mail three days post interview simply because the recruiter had provided a very specific timeline of one week to you as per their recruitment processes. Give it a week and go ahead and kindly follow up via e-mail. The reason you do not need to call is since it is apparent that recruiters are tied up with constant interviews and meetings and they do not have the capacity to squeeze another call that could have simply been an e-mail instead.Stay connected:You have now received your candidacy update and have unfortunately not made it through the cut. The key essence of remaining on the recruiter’s radar and reigniting their consideration of you for a future role in their organization would be through remaining connected. Sending a LinkedIn invite and a final thank-you note via LinkedIn/e-mail would do wonders for you especially in this growing era of LinkedIn recruiting!Let me conclude with a quote that reiterates the significance of little things that add up to the bigger picture:"Success comes from taking the initiative and following up, persisting, eloquently expressing the depth of your love. What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life?” – Tony Robbins

This blog post has been written by Isra Ikram. Click here to learn more about Isra.